Vineyards with a waiting list: Gary Pisoni, Gary Franscioni and their extraordinary grapes

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In the Santa Lucia Highlands, Gary Franscioni (left) and Gary Pisoniare known simply as The Garys. The prominent growers and winemakers run Garys' Vineyard and have several wine labels of their own,including Franscioni's Roar Wines and Pisoni's Pisoni and Lucia.

In the Santa Lucia Highlands, Gary Franscioni (left) and Gary Pisoniare known simply as The Garys. The prominent growers and winemakers run Garys' Vineyard and have several wine labels of their own,including Franscioni's Roar Wines and Pisoni's Pisoni and Lucia.

The Santa Lucia Highlands appellation is known today for its rich, vibrant pinot noirs. But that wasn’t always the case. The first pinot was planted in 1973, but results weren’t all that great. Chardonnay was the appellation’s early star.

Much of the area’s current fame for pinot noir arguably can be traced to Gary Pisoni, a free-spirited wine enthusiast who had grown up in a Salinas Valley vegetable farming family. Pisoni decided to plant a few acres of pinot noir in 1982 on his family’s horse ranch, at the southern end of what was to become the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation.

“Then the horses started eating the grapes,” he says, “and they had to go.”

His acreage was limited by a lack of water. But once he had a productive well on the property, Pisoni started planting more pinot noir; the vineyard is now 45 acres, nearly all of it pinot. By the late 1990s, word had spread about the success of his vineyard, and a number of pinot specialists from around California had started lining up to buy his grapes. He started producing his own wine in 1998.

But Pisoni isn’t the only Gary who has become a force in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Gary Franscioni, a childhood friend, followed Pisoni’s lead and planted grapes, then founded a winery, Roar Wines, in 2001. The two of them now have five vineyards between them, all farmed meticulously with the same crew. They have become a formidable duo, attracting interest from top winemakers and pinot noir lovers.

Franscioni is also from a vegetable farming family; Pisoni figures they’ve known each other since they were 3 or 4. Franscioni saw his friend’s success, and once he got some money together, decided to plant grapes of his own. Franscioni’s property is farther north and cooler, because it’s closer to chilly Monterey Bay, and he was going to plant chardonnay.

Franscioni planted what became Rosella’s Vineyard, named for his wife, in 1996. He took Pisoni’s advice and planted four acres of pinot noir, although he did also plant 12 acres of chardonnay. (It’s now 50 acres, three-quarters of it pinot noir.)

The next year, they decided to become partners and planted Garys’ Vineyard, a 50-acre parcel where they grow pinot and a little syrah. Since then, Franscioni has developed Sierra Mar, 38 acres of pinot, chardonnay, syrah and a tiny amount of viognier, and the two teamed up again to establish Soberanes Vineyard, 35 acres of mostly pinot noir, with some chardonnay and syrah. That last vineyard was developed by Pisoni’s son Mark.

The Garys might seem an unlikely pair. Pisoni is colorful, to say the least, with his mane of wavy dark hair and his outspoken manner. Franscioni comes across as more serious-minded. But the collaboration between the two, who often address each other as “partner,” clearly works. Franscioni characterizes their relationship as sort of a yin-and-yang thing. Pisoni puts it more bluntly: “We’re good by ourselves, but together we’re better.”

Pisoni is the idea guy, the frontman; Franscioni and Mark Pisoni call him the ambassador. “He’s a check on us to keep quality high,” Mark says of his father. Franscioni and Mark Pisoni run the farming on their own vineyards and work together on the joint ventures. “Gary and I are on the phone all the time,” Mark Pisoni says.

The family involvement doesn’t stop there. Jeff Pisoni makes his family’s wines, which are under the Pisoni and Lucia brands. Franscioni’s son, Adam, joined the family business in time for the 2011 harvest. He handles sales for Roar and helps his dad manage the vineyards.

The grapes from all five vineyards are in huge demand, because the two families are such careful farmers, constantly tweaking and improving. Prominent customers include Testarossa, Siduri, Kosta Browne, Copain and Bernardus. When a vintner approaches them about buying grapes, the partners look at the winery’s track record and who the winemaker is. Then the winery is put on a waiting list. “There’s not very much movement in our vineyards,” Franscioni says. Franscioni once told me that when he planted Sierra Mar, he and Pisoni had 62 wineries waiting to buy fruit. Soberanes was developed with the idea of working with some new winemakers.

There was some concern, even among the two families, that quality might suffer as the vineyard operations have grown. But there’s no indication that’s the case. In fact, with each new venture, they build on what they’ve learned in their older vineyards.

Eventually, there will be even more vineyards. The Pisonis and Franscionis have purchased a 100-acre cactus farm in the Santa Lucia Highlands. There’s still a lease on the property, so prickly pear cactus will continue to be grown for more than a decade, but at some point the land will be home to more grapevines. Both families understand the importance of building for the future.

But the two Garys also enjoy looking back. As we sit on Franscioni’s patio, Pisoni tells the story of being in the same spot some years ago and looking at a field of broccoli out back. He told Franscioni that the field would look a lot better with pinot noir vines. Now that parcel is part of Rosella’s Vineyard, and it’s planted with pinot.

“Everybody thought he was crazy,” Franscioni says of Pisoni. “I think he always had the vision, the creativeness. He had so much passion.”

Wines from Roar,Pisoni and Lucia

Interested in tasting the wines from Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni’s ventures? Here are tasting notes for a few wines from Roar, Pisoni and Lucia. (Lucia is the Pisoni family’s brand for wines from vineyards other than the Pisoni estate.) The wines are sold primarily through mailing lists:2011 Roar Chardonnay, Rosella’s Vineyard ($45): Bright and lemony, with good concentration, some toasty oak and a long finish.2011 Roar Pinot Noir, Sierra Mar Vineyard ($52): Very aromatic, with dark yet lively fruit and spice. Concentrated, but it’s also light on its feet and silky.2011 Roar Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard ($60): Darker, bigger and more brooding, with spicy fruit, a good core of acidity and a velvety finish.2011 Lucia Pinot Noir, Garys’ Vineyard ($55): Dark and lively, with spicy raspberry fruit and good concentration. Structured yet supple.2011 Lucia Pinot Noir, Soberanes Vineyard ($50): Structured, with very pure raspberry fruit and a hint of smoke.2011 Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir ($70): Big, ripe and dark with a slight leafy note and a hint of graphite. Weighty, but manages to retain some elegance.2011 Lucia Syrah, Garys’ Vineyard ($45): Dark and dense, with black fruit, notes of white pepper, smoke and roasted meat, and firm tannins.

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